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Lost Sales Leads: Common Problems and How to Correct Them

real estate leads online

Guest Post by Agent Advice

 
In the digital age of real estate sales, the process of successfully converting prospects to leads and closed business has become a fine art. No matter how refined a process becomes, losing a lead is inevitable.
 
This article aims to discuss some common problems that may lead to sales loss and how you can correct them. We’ll be doing a deep-dive into the world of real estate lead generation best practices and how to help ensure a lead is not lost after you generate it. Although we’ll dive in specifically to boosting conversion within the real estate industry here, the concepts explored in this article can be used for sales leads in any industry.
 

Lack of Presence on Social Media

 
Think about your favorite brands. Regardless of industry, you’ll notice that some of the best brands have clear, concise, and dedicated social media strategies. According to Hootsuite, there are approximately 3.2 billion (42%) social media users across the globe; Clients today expect a sophisticated social media presence. If your online presence is unprofessional or weak, it certainly won’t build credibility with buyers, and you may even lose the lead before you have a chance to introduce yourself.
 
Having a social media presence is excellent, but unless you’re able to come up with a precise and measurable plan of action, there’s a strong likelihood of getting lost in the noise. We suggest real estate agents follow these five best practices to grow your social media presence and keep your business organized:

1. Identify the social channels you want a presence on (master a few as opposed to delving into many)
2. Develop a social media calendar to organize your social strategy
3. Follow the 4:1:1 rule, depending on the platform
4. Add your social media channels to all marketing material (online and offline)
5. Encourage your clients to interact with you on social to build a powerful, core audience
6. Respond to all sales inquiries through social promptly

Calls-to-Action That Lead to Nothing

 
We’re seeing a lot of real estate agents take their business online with stunning websites. However, even the most beautiful websites can have a low conversion rate if the calls to action (CTA) are not working as they’re supposed to.
 
Whether you’re an accomplished Realtor or someone new to the field, it’s essential to capture all potential prospects into sales leads. Here are some common CTAs that we see advertised through real estate marketing websites and collateral:
 
•Contact Us
•Call Button
•Free Home Evaluation
•Free List of Homes Under $$$,$$$

 
One of the toughest aspects of real estate marketing is getting a customer to become aware of your brand and to visit your website. That’s why it’s important to optimize to ensure that you are converting as many visitors into sales leads as possible. One way to turn a potential sale off is to have CTAs that don’t lead anywhere.
 
For example, your “Contact Us” button leads to a 401 error, your “Free List of Homes Under $$$,$$$” offering yields nothing. Empty offers and CTAs such as these are sure to sour any prospect, so ensure that you have your bases covered by testing your website often to ensure it’s functioning as needed.
 
Go through your online presence (website, emails, etc.) with a fine-toothed comb and intentionally look for problems – you may save yourself a lead!
 

Not Implementing Face-to-Face Interactions

 
Although we’re living in an age consumed by digital media, face-to-face interactions are still crucial to closing a sales lead. There’s nothing better when it comes to rapport building than face-to-face interaction. It provides an added sense of personalization and allows agents to understand their clients and their needs on a personal level.

According to the Harvard Business Review, face-to-face requests are 34 times more successful than ones sent via email.

 

Ignoring Customer Expectations

 
There’s an old saying that is as true as any in the world of real estate sales, “Underpromise and overdeliver.” Signing a client on to work with you is just the beginning of what one hopes is a long-term business relationship.
 
You’ve proven to them that you’re capable of delivering results, now it’s time to achieve them. But what happens when you have promised them the world and set them up with unrealistic expectations? In most cases, it will yield negative sentiment on the client’s behalf, and they’ll share that negative experience with their inner circle as well, you don’t want that.
 
The best way to avoid this experience is to sit down with your client and have an open discussion with them in regards to their expectations. Not only does communication help create a more productive workplace, but it also helps build more sustainable client-realtor relationships. If you feel as though they’re unreasonable, be open, and communicate that before proceeding. It’s important to get the lay of the land when working with a client to ensure that they’re satisfied with your service and retain you as their agent for life.
 

Not Networking

 
Networking is a critical part of real estate sales leads generation strategy. You can be the most efficient, results-oriented agent in the nation, but if you’re not putting yourself out there and speaking with other agents and clients, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
 
Sales leads can be generated anywhere, and at any time, so it’s necessary to keep the following points in mind:
 

• Always have a business card on you, you never know when a lead will present itself.
• Build a network of tradespeople who you refer contracting leads to, and in return, they will refer real estate leads back to you.
• Do not make all conversations about you and your business, read the room and if the conversation doesn’t warrant bringing up your job, don’t. Building relationships is more important than dominating the conversation.
• Give your clients a Holiday gift. It’s an opportunity to get in front of them at the end of the year and get an update on their needs without being too sale-oriented.

 

Not Updating Your CRM

 
CRMs have been a game-changer for the real estate industry. By utilizing a CRM, you’re able to effectively manage the entire client journey from prospecting to post-sales all in one centralized dashboard.
 
Now, more than ever, businesses need a solid CRM to run successfully (especially in real estate). It gives you a look at what lead generating tools are most useful, what are the biggest reasons that you’re losing sales leads, and best of all, it houses all prospect and client information in one area to keep you organized and focused on what you do best, closing deals. If you haven’t done so already, check out this list of the best real estate CRMs.
 


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